BBB issues warning after scammer threatens St. Louis woman with jail time

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(KMOV) – The Better Business Bureau is warning residents about a predator who threatened a St. Louis woman with an arrest if she does not pay up.

The BBB says it’s a scam using strong-arm tactics to scare victims into complying.

School nurse Barbara White gave up almost $ 5,000 to a caller who claimed to represent a pay-day loan company.

The caller terrorized White for two days, convincing her she’d broken the law and needed to pay a fine to clear her name.

“When these people threatened me with jail, the FBI, and said that I had committed federal violations, yes I was scared. I was truly scared,” said White. “And some of the people I talked to and told about it, ‘I wouldn’t have given anybody $4,000.’ I said you can say that because you weren’t on the receiving end.”

While debt collectors do callconsumers all the time, it is illegal for them to threaten or harass.